I’m a Genius Idol but my Passive is Sunfish Chapter 55

* * *

 

“Baekya, are you even trying?!”

 

It was already his fifth mistake in the same section. Trying to dance to ‘No Game’ after a long time made him realize anew how high the difficulty of their debut song’s choreography was.

 

‘K-Concert’ hosted by Incheon City and the Korea Tourism Organization. Also known as KCON. DASE was scheduled to appear. This was the reason Baekya was getting smashed over the ‘No Game’ choreography while promoting WANT ME.

 

At first, the choreographer had laughed it off, but now his voice was clearly rising with irritation. A large part of that could be blamed on Baekya’s new skill, <Coma (D)>.

 

This hopeless skill was pushing the choreographer to the brink of a real coma. This damned skill must be active 24 hours a day without a cooldown.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Baekya bowed while exhaling hot breath.

 

‘I feel like I’m going to throw up from exhaustion.’

 

Did he say there wasn’t much difference between Skill C and D ranks? He retracted that statement. There was a heaven-and-earth difference between the two ranks.

 

While he was having these calm thoughts internally, the impressions of those watching were a bit different.

 

His face was visibly pale. Namkyung, fearing the kid might actually collapse, stepped in.

 

“Um, Choreographer-nim. It seems Baekya’s condition isn’t good these days.”

 

But the man was firm. Normally, he joked around with DASE like an older brother—but the moment practice started, he turned into a tiger of a teacher.

 

“Hyung, I’m fine. Guys, I’m sorry.”

 

Baekya apologized repeatedly and promised to get it right this time. The choreographer, staring intently at the pale sunfish, sighed briefly.

 

“Fine, let’s take a 10-minute break.”

 

It was his way of being considerate.

 

It was already October. The end of DASE’s WANT ME promotions was in sight.

 

“Baekya, let’s hang in there just a little longer.”

 

Namkyung said that music broadcasts would end this week, and once this was over, things would be more relaxed than now. Baekya smiled weakly at his words.

 

“Yes. But I really am fine.”

 

However, no one believed these words.

 

Perhaps it was from the day the gacha failed. He vaguely felt that the members, Namkyung, and Deokjin were treating him cautiously.

 

‘I can’t exactly tell them the truth.’

 

He thought it’d be fine if he just acted like usual.

 

“Still, practice isn’t ending because of me. I am sorry.”

 

When the sunfish apologized, Minseong patted his shoulder saying it was okay. He was an excellent leader.

 

“It’s okay. More practice is good anyway. And it’s true your condition isn’t great.”

 

‘Condition…’

 

If it were just physical fatigue, that’d be a relief. Baekya couldn’t even guarantee when he’d get his dance skill back.

 

“Uh, yeah. That’s true….”

 

“Seeing you make so many mistakes like this after a long time reminds me of the old days, it’s kinda nice. Somehow.”

 

Old days? We haven’t even been debuted a year…

 

Yooyeon ruffled Baekya’s hair and laughed pleasantly.

 

“Ah, stop that.”

 

When Baekya frowned and pushed his arm away, Yulmu, who was watching, chimed in.

 

“Oh~ seeing the hamster get snappy—guess your energy’s coming back?”

 

“When have I ever gotten snappy?!”

 

“See, even now. Uack!”

 

Baekya lunged at Yulmu. While they laughed and chatted, the 10 minutes passed quickly.

 

‘What is this.’

 

Due to the members not leaving Baekya alone for a single moment, he had to start dance practice again without resting for even a minute.

 

“Get your heads in the game!”

 

The Apgujeong Tiger was back. His piercing gaze swept over DASE.

 

“You said you want to make it big. Then you have to work even harder once people start reacting!”

 

Was it just his feeling, or did he look angrier than 10 minutes ago? Baekya intuitively sensed that if he made a mistake this time too, he wouldn’t be able to leave this place today.

 

‘Give me back my <Dance God Dance King (C)>….’

 

* * *

 

“Good work. Rest well today.”

 

It was a rare day with no schedule, but DASE returned to the dorm looking much like usual. except this blessing was mainly for Baekya.

 

“Urhhhh.”

 

A zombie stumbled out of the car.

 

“Baekya, walk properly.”

 

“Nyeee….”

 

As soon as he got out, Baekya leaned against the car, and Cheong, who had gotten out first, grabbed him by the collar.

 

“Uck!”

 

“Hey! The car will get dirty.”

 

The front of his shirt crumpled in an instant due to the force of the grip.

 

Now he was even getting grabbed by the collar by the maknae… Baekya looked at Cheong with a gloomy expression.

 

“What are you looking at?”

 

“No, just…….”

 

The sunfish, unable to even break even, quickly shrank away.

 

Cheong probably meant ‘why are you staring’, but his expression was also stiff, perhaps from fatigue. Since the maknae’s bad mood was partly his fault, his conscience pricked him….

 

Baekya definitely wasn’t scared.

 

“Let’s go up.”

 

Minseong, who got out after talking a bit more with Namkyung, took care of the younger ones.

 

After going up to the dorm, DASE decided the shower order with Rock-Paper-Scissors, and true to being a player of a trash game, Baekya managed to fail even this spectacularly.

 

‘Failing the gacha wasn’t enough, now I’m dead last in Rock-Paper-Scissors.’

 

The sunfish, crumpled on the sofa, was staring blankly into space. Someone approached and sat beside him.

 

“Baekya.”

 

“Ah, hyung.”

 

“Shall we get some fresh air for a moment?”

 

Minseong gestured towards the balcony with his eyes. At that, Baekya nodded and stood up.

 

“You tired?”

 

“Well, everyone is tired, not just me… The members suffered because of me.”

 

Baekya made a bitter expression.

 

“Don’t worry too much about that. The kids will understand.”

 

Minseong thanked him, saying that he had practiced the same choreography for a year while Baekya hadn’t even filled half that time, yet he followed along well.

 

‘Angel…?’

 

Is he an angel or what? Baekya glanced at him.

 

“The ‘No Game’ choreography is really tough.”

 

Minseong told him that at first, he couldn’t keep up either and got scolded a lot.

 

“So there’s no need to blame yourself, and absolutely no need to be discouraged. You know that, right?”

 

Baekya stared intently at Minseong. He had a blank expression as if a question mark was floating above his head.

 

“Do I look like that?”

 

Not expecting a counter-question, Minseong looked slightly flustered.

 

“Well, you haven’t had much energy lately. There was that day too….”

 

Minseong fiddled with the back of his neck and looked away.

 

“That day?”

 

Baekya tilted his head.

 

“The day you came back from vocal training alone. You cried in Yulmu’s arms—”

 

“When did I!”

 

Baekya, suddenly getting goosebumps all over his body, jumped up. He looked like a freshly caught fish.

 

“I didn’t cling to him!”

 

What a horrifying thing to say!

 

The furious maltese bared its teeth and growled.

 

“Okay, cancel! Cancel. Good?”

 

“…Yeah.”

 

Anyway, Minseong said Baekya had seemed strange that day and asked if anything was troubling him.

 

‘Troubling things? Tons.’

 

Being a sunfish was hard, dance practice was hard, quests were hard, gacha was hard, everything was hard. But among these, the only thing he could mention was dance practice.

 

“Just… because I feel like trash….”

 

Specifically, my body. The subject was abbreviated.

 

Baekya turned away, wearing the expression of someone who’d lived a full life already, and gazed wistfully down from the balcony.

 

For reference, DASE’s dorm was on the 15th floor. Surprised, Minseong’s eyes widened, and he grabbed Baekya’s shoulder.

 

“No, Baekya!”

 

Minseong, saying why would he be trash and that he didn’t know Baekya was thinking such things, seemed shocked. The leader seemed to have taken a hit.

 

“No, not me being trash, my body is trash….”

 

But then again, his body was a sunfish, and a sunfish was him, so logically that meant he was trash.

 

“Wait, yeah…? I am trash.”

 

Just then, in the corner of the balcony. He spotted an empty trash can placed as a makeshift measure where two railing bars were missing.

 

‘This won’t do. I should get into the trash can.’

 

Baekya, reaching a state where rational judgment was impossible due to the collaboration of physical exhaustion, sleep deprivation, and stress, shook off Minseong’s arm and headed for the railing.

 

When he pulled the trash can, a hole large enough for him to pass through was revealed.

 

Of course, Baekya was seeing this for the first time now.

 

“Huh? Someone could totally just jump down from here.”

 

It was then.

 

The balcony door burst open, and Cheong grabbed Baekya. It was the second collar-grab following the parking lot earlier.

 

“Heugh-k!”

 

“You Crazy?!”

 

This time, he even cursed.

 

‘Calling me crazy. Isn’t that too harsh….’

 

Baekya turned around with a flustered face. Then he saw the members standing in a row in front of the glass window, and their faces all looked serious.

 

“Why are you all here…. Did you all finish showering…?”

 

He hadn’t done anything wrong, but instinctively thinking he should protect himself, the sunfish stepped back. At that moment, Yulmu, who had been stiff, snatched Baekya’s wrist with a pale face.

 

“You, come out.”

 

The sunfish was dragged away helplessly as he pulled.

 

This was Baekya’s first time seeing Yulmu with such a hardened expression. They say people who don’t usually get angry are terrifying when they do, and that saying was spot on.

 

“Hey… Na Yulmu, what’s wrong with you?”

 

Baekya ended up following him into the next room. The room structure was the same, but the atmosphere was definitely different.

 

“What were you trying to do just now.”

 

“……Me?”

 

Baekya, who sat as if thrown onto Yulmu’s bed, was shrinking more and more.

 

“I was just talking with hyung….”

 

“About what.”

 

“He asked if I had any hardships, so I said no….”

 

But as he spoke, he started getting annoyed. Who is he to interrogate me like he’s scolding me?

 

“But did I do something wrong?”

 

Baekya asked.

 

“Are you sure? Are you sure you weren’t trying to do anything?”

 

Yulmu didn’t back down either.

 

The tension grew heavier, and outside the room, the other members watched the confrontation.

 

“Ugh, my head…”

 

Minseong, holding his forehead, was about to intervene to stop them.

 

“Are you doing this because you’re angry I kept messing up the choreography today? If it’s because of that, I’m sorry.”

 

Baekya, who had never danced before in his life until now. But as he spoke, he felt aggrieved, and his emotions gradually intensified.

 

“Still, I’m doing my best in my own way so I don’t burden you guys.”

 

“That’s not what I mean,”

 

“I’m doing everything I’m told to do!”